District Collector Vivek Yadav has asked the village sarpanches and panchayat secretaries to take steps to contain the spread of COVID-19 and ensure that people get access to good medical care.
In a teleconference held with sarpanches and secretaries held on Friday, Mr. Yadav said the health department should ensure that fever surveys were conducted at all mandals. The rapid antigen testing kits had been supplied to all villages and 104 and 108 ambulances had also been placed at the disposal of secretaries.
“Ensure all protocols regarding testing, setting up micro containment zones, triaging, hospital admissions are done. We have set up 929 village committees with the sarpanch as chairman and ward members and staff of village secretariats as members. Ensure people follow social distancing and set up COVID Care Centres at government schools, function halls and community halls and also raise awareness on 104 call centre,” said Mr. Yadav.
The Collector said that based on the findings in the fever survey, the committee should ensure that all positive persons stayed indoors and, if necessary, moved to COVID Care Centres or to hospitals. A review would be done after a week, he added.
Joint Collector, Ward and Village Secretariats, Development A.S. Dinesh Kumar said all assistance would be provided to COVID committees. Awareness should be created through prayer halls. Home isolation kits should be provided to all those tested positive and in isolation, she said.
Medical services
Later, the Collector reviewed the medical services at Government General Hospital, Guntur, with the Mr. Joint Collectors Dinesh Kumar and P. Prasanthi, doctors and nodal officers.
A decision had been taken to use the premises of AC College as a triaging and testing facility. Biomedical engineers had been appointed to oversee oxygen pipeline supply. A decision to take feed back from patients has also been taken and an oxygen audit is being done daily.
Mr. Kumar said that oxygen leaking points had been identified and repairs were conducted. Special training had been given on oxygen usage by anaesthesia to the nursing staff and oxygen audit committees are providing details of oxygen availability and usage.
